The traditional model for contact centers is to have agents report to the contact center for specific shifts. The contact centers are set up to support a particular medium such as audio communications. In addition, the devices available to the agent in the contact center are fixed and usually uniform between agents. For example, an agent supporting voice communications typically has a phone for handling calls and a personal computer to retrieve information about the customer.
As contact center technology has advanced, many changes have taken place. Today, a contact center may support a variety of mediums, such as voice, video, and text communications. In some contact centers, an agent may support a single medium or several mediums simultaneously. For example, the agent may support both audio and email communications from customers. The mediums supported by an agent may dynamically change based on needs in the contact center. In addition, many contact centers have moved to a model of having some, if not all, of the agents being remote to the contact center. In many instances, the agent may be using their own devices when supporting communications with customers. The result is that it has become difficult to provide uniform communication services for agents. What is needed is a way to dynamically determine the mediums that can be supported by the agent and the types of devices available for use by the agent in order to provide the best environment for the agent to support the customer.